


Caregiver AU

by witchbreaker



Series: Dreaming of Roads Unwalked Snippets [3]
Category: Dreaming of Sunshine, Naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 02:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9577811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchbreaker/pseuds/witchbreaker
Summary: Shikako is born six years earlier to a Yoshino and Shikaku still on the outs with the Nara. Needless to say, things change. For good and for bad.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, so Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen has a pretty vibrant fandom and I've been writing AUs for it in the forum for years. I've decided to start posting the AUs to my AO3 account so that I can get them all in one place and update whenever I feel like it without disturbing the flow of the threads.
> 
> This AU is called the Kako Kinokawa AU or Caregiver AU. You can find the beginning of it in the We're All Just Dreaming of Sunshine forum, Recursive Thread, post #4116 aka page 138. There are other authors who have written in it to so please check out the thread if you want to see more.

She doesn't even know how it happened. At first it was just Shikamaru and Ino but you can't watch Shikamaru and Ino and not include Chouji. Especially after school starts and they stick so close together. Shikako makes sure that she finishes her D-Ranks in time to pick Shikamaru up.

Also Shikamaru is now going to the Academy. Which means that Ino meets Sakura and drags her along when she visits Shikamaru and her little brother somehow became friends with Kiba (after a fist fight which Shikako should be a lot more upset about but isn't) who of course spends time at their apartment under her eye.

So, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Sakura, and Kiba morph into Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Sakura, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata by the end of their second year and Sasuke and Naruto get added to that during their third. Shikako is ashamed at how long it took her to nudge Shikamaru into befriending Naruto. She tells herself that she has been busy and there wasn't a good opportunity before and ignores the sick feeling she gets when she looks at Naruto and thinks back to the Kyuubi Attack. She gets over it eventually.

Shikako finds herself watching nine kids on a semi-frequent basis. It's _exhausting._ Because if Naruto and Kiba aren't running around then Sasuke and Naruto have gotten into a competition or someone needs a lesson in manners or cooking or basic ninja skills and Shikako gets home after running around all of Konoha. That's not even including the training she makes herself do in the morning. But it's worth it. Shikako sees nine happy faces when she gets home each day and thinks that she might be able to make a difference after all. It's what she thinks about when she's weeding gardens and delivering messages. If she can keep Shikamaru clothed and fed, if she can teach these kids how to deal with their emotions, if she can help them make friends and have support networks then maybe she'll be able to make up for her existence getting her parents killed.

It's not all give as Shikako discovers when she sits down on the couch for a second and wakes up two hours later. The girls are making a meal and the apartment is clean (way cleaner than it was before she closed her eyes) and everyone is being so quiet that Shikako wants to check that they aren't infiltrators. Instead she tries to get up and gets, literally, sat on by Shikamaru who insists that she rest. He isn't forceful about it. He just points out that dinner's almost done, there's nothing to be cleaned or picked up, and she's comfortable so he's not moving anytime soon. Shikamaru has that look on his face that is suppose to nonchalance but let's Shikako know that he is going to be a stubborn little shit. She sighs and enjoys a meal on the couch with nine, for once well behaved, kids.

After everyone leaves, Shikamaru quietly tells her that he can take care of himself. She doesn't say anything to that and the air between them is strained. Shikako struggles with that. One part of her saying that he's right and the other part screams that he's eight and shouldn't _have_ to be taking care of himself. That's her job. It's the only thing she can do to make up for her existence getting Yoshino and Shikaku killed during the Kyuubi Attack. It doesn't matter that she's only fourteen and constantly tired and her only real friends are Inochi, Genma, and Choza. It takes three weeks of Shikamaru being passive-egressive about helping out before Shikako talks to Inochi about it. He doesn't tell her what she wants to hear but he does tell her what she needs to know. Shikamaru is old enough to start helping out around the home and watching himself. She doesn't have to let him run wild but a longer leash would help both of them. Shikako's constant watching and helping is only exhausting her and she needs to ease up before she breaks because that _will_ hurt Shikamaru.

Shikako listens to him, a bit. Putting it into practice is hard. It takes all her strength to let Shikamaru go out with just his friends and to only help him out when he asks for it. Which really shouldn't be that hard considering the biggest trouble he ever gets into is being roped into Naruto's pranks (harmless but messy) and he's smarter than she'll ever be. So, Shikako now has time to fully sleep and her relationship with her brother goes back to being warm. Things get easier for her and she starts taking missions that will have her outside of Konoha for at least a day.

C-Ranks shift into B-Ranks and Shikako settles into a new routine. Get up, train, take a mission that covers the bills, come home and either enjoy the quiet before the Academy is done for the day or enjoy the energy of nine almost-Genin kids talking and laughing in her home, and then spend the time before sleep catching up with her little brother. Things get shaken up when Shino brings Chiyako with him one day. It's supposedly because his parents are busy and he's suppose to be watching her but Chiyako's red eyes and talkativeness means Shikako is easily able to put together that the first day of Academy hadn't gone so well for his little sister. Soon after Chiyako, Hanabi starts showing up frequently. It's usually only when Hinata is there too but sometimes she hangs out with Chiyako. Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon come around for some weird reason but Shikako doesn't complain and Ebisu is almost always with them so she has some help wrangling the now fourteen kids that use her apartment as a hang out. (Shikako forgets she took a mission with Asuma who teased her about the number of kids she's 'adopted' and jokingly asked if she would watch his nephew too. Shikako thought he was serious, said yes, and he eventually decided to take her up on it.)

It's incredibly crowded but Shikako can live with it. Gemma let's her use his shower so she can clean up after a mission gone wrong and the happy, not dead, kids help her remember why she's doing all of this. Eventually, her mission record gets her nominated for the Chunin Exams. Shikako decides to go for it because there is only so much she can do if she's stays a Genin. There's a lot of mocking when word gets around how long she's been a Genin but it doesn't matter. Shikako decimates the competition. Her team breezes through the first stage, gets by the second, and Shikako wins the tournament. Shikamaru and the dozen plus kids that are pretty much family celebrate with a party that will go down in history.

So, life gets even busier and somehow less so because the Rookie Nine have officially graduated and they are now off doing their own missions just as Shikako starts taking her first A-Ranks. She still does her best to make sure they have a place to be and help them out when they ask. Chiyako, Hanabi, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon stay away for a bit but eventually start coming around regularly. Going from fourteen kids to five is weird enough that Shikako actively seeks them out and teaches them things like replacement tag and the little tricks she's picked up over the years. Hopefully things that will save them latter.

The Invasion is just as bad as Shikako thought it was going to be. Sand hits them like a ton of bricks and Shikako kills and kills and kills and doesn't know if her brother is safe. He's chasing Gaara and the only thing Shikako can rely on is the knowledge that he survived the invasion in canon. He makes it this time too. Shikako hugs him so tight when she sees him. When things calm down enough she does a headcount. Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji and Shino are fine, Sakura and Kiba have some minor injuries, Sasuke and Naruto have chakra exhaustion, Hinata is no worse off than she was before the Invasion, Chiyako, Hanabi, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi were all hidden away in shelters and don't have a scratch on them. Inochi, Chouza, and Genma are tired but alive. Ebisu has a broken arm but that's hardly life threatening. Shikako takes a second to breath.

Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Inochi, Chouza, Genma, Sakura, Kiba, Sasuke, Naruto, Shino, Hinata, Chiyako, Hanabi, Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi are alive. They will be fine.

She wonders when her family got so big.

It gets even bigger. The aftermath of the Invasion, the Chunin Exams, add the sensei to the people that hang around her place. It's weird. Having adults to talk to outside of the rare times she can catch Inochi in the tower or Chouza as she picks up Shikamaru or getting the same mission with Genma. Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi, and Gai take some getting use to but Shikako manages it like she always does. Neji, Tenten, and Lee flit in and out until the rest of the Rookie Nine get use to them. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro get dragged in by Naruto after a mission that was so close to being a clusterfuck that Shikako had to be restrained from murdering the one enemy nin that gets brought back alive. It's very clear that the Sand Siblings have no idea what to do once they cross the threshold. It's also clear that only Naruto, Lee, and Shikamaru are the only ones that actually trust any of them. Every single one of them has decided to cram themselves into that apartment.

Shikako tries to head off any explosion by getting the Siblings to help her with dinner. This turns out to be a good plan where Gaara is concerned but a bad one with the other two. Kankuro can't help poking people and it causes Sakura, who is also helping with dinner, lose her focus. Shikako sends him out and gets Temari to keep an eye on her brother since she's clearly doesn't like to cook and Shikako is pretty sure that she'll feel more comfortable watching her brother than in here. Gaara's easy. He has no idea how to cook but he'll follow directions without a fuss and you can't go wrong telling a ninja to cut something up into a certain size.

Everyone goes their separate ways after dinner and Shikako gives herself a mental pat on the back that nothing blew up during it. She's pretty sure that she has picked up three new kids but this is nothing new. When someone asks her if she ever wants to have babies Shikako responds:

"Why? I have twenty kids already."


	2. Chapter 2

Shikako's Chunin Exam isn't in Konoha. It's in Hidden Rock. It is only the third Chunin Exam to take place since the Third Shinobi War. It took a long time for the Great Hidden Villages to trust each other enough to host foreign Genin for a month. Shikako is more nervous about the shakiness of their peace treaties than she is about the competition. There aren't any major characters here. She can't spot a single person that popped up in the manga or anime so she's pretty sure has a decent chance of making it to the third round and the tournament is a no-kill zone. Clients like to see fights, not children getting murdered.

So, Shikako herds her team to the building that they are suppose to wait in. It has around eighty Genin in it. Most of them from Rock and Lightning which isn't surprising. Those villages were allies during the war. Shikako's team waits with their back against a wall along with the only other Konoha team here. Her teammates, Kikyo Aburame and Sahashi Akimichi, fidget as they wait. It's their second exam and her first. Really, Shikako would prefer to stay Genin a little until Shikamaru graduates but she had been overruled. The Hokage himself had told Shikako that her mission record (2029 D-Ranks, 162 C-Ranks, 18 B-Ranks, and 3 A-Ranks) made it ridiculous that she hasn't at least attempted a Chunin Exam. Shikako had tried to argue that she needed to be in Konoha for Shikamaru but Shikamaru is eight now and that excuse does not fly. It could be worse. Kikyo and Sahashi may not know Shikako very well but they get along fine and don't have a problem differing to her. Which is great because Shikako has no ability to leave "Mom-Mode" as Ino calls it when dealing with kids.

"I'm surprised that Leaf dared to show it's face." The words come from a Rock Genin at a stage-whisper. Shikako ignores it. Kikyo does not.

"I don't know why. It's not like anyone here can compete with us." She snipes back. Shikako internally sighs. She watches the two go at it, one hand on her kunai pouch and the other prepared to grab somebody. Sahashi manages to stay out of it, thank goodness. Shikako attempts to step in when another Rock team decides to join in.

"It isn't a good idea to fight before the exams even start." She says. Technically, there were suppose to have started nine minutes ago but she isn't sure if the proctors are delaying it to see if the verbal sparring will spiral out into something more or if it has already started.

"Like you would know. How many times have you failed these exams?" The Genin that started this sneers. He's taken a look at her (she looks older than her fourteen years, feels older than the combined lives' thirty-nine) and wrongly deduces her experience.

"Actually, this is my first Exam." As soon as those words are out of her mouth, Shikako can see her potential drop in the eyes of everyone in the room. She doesn't care. The time she got with Shikamaru was more than a good reason to stay Genin for so long. Kikyo and Sahashi don't look pleased that she said that but they know her combat abilities and her reasons. If they have problems with her letting others think she's weak then they shouldn't be promoted. Sometimes being underestimated is more important than being feared.

"Stop playing around." One of the Rock Ninja lining the room moves into the center, drawing everyone's attention to him. "The First Round of the Chunin Exams starts now. Listen close because I'm not going to repeat this."

The room goes silent.

"You will have thirty minutes to answer the questions on these tests. Once you have answered all the questions correctly, turn the test over to the proctor. Get a question wrong and one of you teammates will not be going with you to the next round. If this happens your team will have to decide who is going home." There's murmurs at that. Rock teams usually have eight members to them. If there are eight questions that means that the other villages will have to get at least 5/8s of questions right in order to ensure even one person passing.

"Time wil start as soon as all the tests have been distributed. All teams that do not complete the test before time is up will fail the Exam."

Shikako has already picked up on the test within the test. The man had said "the proctor" and while it would have been a reasonable assumption to think he was the person in question that was too easy. It had to be someone else. She grasps Kikyo's shoulder to pull her out of the way of the line forming and secretly taps out a message: Find Proctor.

Kikyo does as she's told and starts sending out her kikaichi. Shikako is the last to get a copy of the paper. She takes it back to her group. They hadn't been banned from working with each other so there was a lot of brainstorming going on. Or pretend brainstorming as people spied. Shikako immediately starts to answer the five questions on it. They are a little hard. Honestly, it's kind of disappointing. Maybe Konoha's written exam was unusually difficult.

Shikako feels one of Kikyo's bugs touch her neck. It makes her skin crawl but she can handle it. It repeats the standard Konoha cipher. _Proctor Found._

 _Are you sure?_ Shikako carefully signs back.

_Biggest chakra signature in the room. Found in Bingo Book under Rock. Known for surveillance and interrogation techniques. Was noted: "Don't be captured by."_

_Well done._

Shikako checks her answers then double checks and finds something off about the paper. The correct answers line up in such a way that Shikako suspects there is a code in it. She checks the paper twice, discovers there is a code and it gives her three more questions. All have one word answers that wouldn't be noticed if she quickly scrawled them onto the bottom of the page. Shikako does so and switches the test with a piece of paper that Sahashi sneakily got out of his bag. Unsubtly, Shikako gets up and gives the paper to the man who gave the speech. A lot of people take notice as no one else has finished yet. The distraction gives Sahashi an opening to quietly slips the real test to the actual proctor.

"You will find out if you passed when the time is up." The speech man said. Shikako nodded and sat back down with her team.

Time is called and half of the people end up failing. Plenty had figured out that they needed to find the proctor but a lot hadn't realized there was a third test underneath that. Shikako watches as plenty of teams come apart as people try to figure out who will have to leave. Anger and betrayal is felt as teammates turn on each other for a shot at promotion. Shikako suspects that a lot of them have just blown their chances by doing so.

"Tomorrow at 8 o'hundred hours the Second Round of the Chunin Exams will commence. Any teams that lost members are welcomed to combine with those still standing from their own villages," a chance to sow even more discord. How well would teams react to suddenly having new members? Would relationships with people forced out cause such teams to fall apart? "Those teams must give their new team formation to the proctors before the Round takes place. The location of the Second Round will be Takeo Canyon. Dismissed."

Sahashi and Kikyo turn and fist bump each other. Kikyo clearly wants to start bragging that her team was one of the few that passed in it's entirety but Shikako cuts her off by suggesting dinner. Sahashi excitedly agrees and practically pulls the two of them out of the room. Shikako smiles, amused and happy with passing the first round.

If she bothered to think about it, Shikako would have noticed that (discounting waiting for the timer to run out) her team passed in five minutes. It wasn't a big deal but the Rock ninja running the exam were not pleased.


	3. Chapter 3

The Second Round:

"There are scrolls scattered across Takeo Canyon." A Jonin informs the remaining Genin. "Drop one off at a specific location in the canyon within three days. Once that has been completed, you will receive a token. Your goal past that point is to get your team and the token to the starting point after sunset of the third day. If you do not have the token you will fail. If your team does not have the members listed as of this morning you will fail. If you try to leave the canyon before the time is up you will fail. If you do not make it to starting point by dawn of the fourth day, you will fail."

 _The third day is going to be terrible._ Shikako thought. Her team were fairly good fighters but three days of fighting would drain on anyone. The rules also meant that getting kidnapped or robbed could be as bad as getting attacked. This would definitely increase the killing. Frontline fighting teams would want to make sure their enemies won't be able to circle back and ambush-ninja will probably determine the same thing. Shikako starts formulating a plan that will keep her team out of the main fighting.

"Begin!" There's a rush through the gates as people decide it is best to find a scroll as quickly as possible. Most of them are Rock ninja which makes sense. They've got home turf advantage and make up twenty-eight out of the forty-two ninja still in the exam.

Shikako keeps her team behind until the rush has passed. Once the dust has settled, she leads them around the edges of the canyon. They a decent place to set up camp and start trapping the area.

"Shouldn't we be looking for a scroll?" Kikyo asks. Shikako shakes her head.

"We don't have the power to hold onto it for three days if we make ourselves a target. It would be best to lay low for today and start looking tomorrow for a token."

"So, we don't _need_ a scroll?" Sahashi said like he too had come to that conclusion.

"Nope, just a token. Which will probably be in short supply. They really need to cut the teams down for the third round."

"Ambush then?" Kikyo says.

"It's what are team is made for." Shikako agrees.

Shikako goes scouting for some food and comes back with two pretty big lizards that make a decent meal. Once her team is fed and shifts have been decided, Shikako settles into her look out position. Her senses are spread out to pick out any chakra signatures that might be headed their way. The night is uneventful. She feels a few teams clash far away but nothing that they should be concerned about. Sahashi wakes up and takes the second shift. Shikako tries to get some sleep but ends up just cat-napping. Half sleeping, half sensing foreign chakra.

The second day is tricky. Team 5 succeeds in snagging a token around noon. Their prey, a Rock team, goes down in pieces as they pick off the members over the course of an hour. Shikako, Kikyo, and Sahashi immediately retreat to wait out the rest of the Exam. They are attacked three times before the day ends. They win with little more than scratches but it causes them to be constantly on the move. Night falls and the fighting doesn't stop. Clashes can be heard at every turn but Shikako's team stays safe. She may not have taken the Nara name but the darkness is not a place she fears. Especially not in a canyon that blocks out the moonlight and supplies her with so many places to protect her teammates.

There's a breather during the morning of day three. Everyone seems to have taken a moment to nurse their wounds and see what will happen next.

It doesn't last. By noon, Team 5 has been through six more fights. Some by other teams, some by single ninja hoping to knock others out even if their own team is done for. Shikako moves her team farther away from the starting point as evening gets closer in an attempt to give them a break and let the rest of the competition weed themselves out. Shikako is fine but Kikyo is nurse a damaged leg and Sahashi needs food after all those uses of his Multi-Size justu. They stay in a cave for several hours before daring to make their way to the starting point. There are more fights and ambushes they have to avoid before their goal comes within sight. It's not a pretty one. Night has fallen and the area above the entrance is a battlefield.

"Sahashi-kun, do you have one more Human Bullet Tank in you?" Shikako asks. "I think so."

"Alright. Kikyo, get on my back. When I give the signal, Sahashi is going to use a Human Bullet Tank to get to the finish line and clear a path for us."

Kikyo frowns but both of them nods. The girl gets on Shikako's back as Sahashi moves out so that he has a clear shot. Shikako ties a flash-bang seal to a kunai and throws it high into the air. It goes off and distracts everyone.

"Human Bullet Tank!" Sahashi roars and tears off towards the entrance. People scramble to get out of the way of the giant rolling ball coming straight towards them. Shikako and Kikyo are barely blip on their radar as they stay behind Sahashi just far enough not to get caught up in the technique. All three of them pass through the entrance without a problem. Sahashi accidentally makes it bigger. At least for a second. As he comes to a stop and Shikako turns around, the newly enlarged hole wavers and then collapses as the rock it was made of falls in on itself.

 _Well, that's one way to get rid of the competition._ Shikako thinks idly as Kikyo gets down. 

Shikako checks her teammates and then gives a proctor their token. They are declared passing and directed to a building to wait until the Second Round to officially finish. There's one Rock team there and two teams from Lightning. It doesn't look like most of them will be able to compete in the tournament. Team 5 sits opposite of them and waits for dawn.

No one else comes. The sun rises above the horizon and the Rock Jonin bring them out.

"Congratulations on passing the Second Round." Those words clearly were directed at Team 5. "The rest of you now have the honor in competing in a tournament that will take place in three weeks. You will get the chance to represent your village to clients from far and wide and show off the power of your generation. If any of you feel that cannot compete in this speak now."

Two Rock Genin immediately raise their hands. Considering one is covered in bandages and the other's leg is in a makeshift splint, Shikako figures they made the right choice. Two Lightning Genin also drops out after a moment.

"Anyone else?" There is silence. "Very well. The pairings will be posted tomorrow. Go back to your assigned housing."

Shikako wants do nothing more than crash in her bed but Sahashi and Kikyo's Jonin teacher shows up and suggests a celebratory dinner. She can't exactly go by herself and Sahashi is looking a little thin after all that fighting. Her experience with Choji tells Shikako it's better that he eats sooner rather than later. So, they go and get authentic Rock food which is actually better than Shikako was expecting. She wishes she could get the recipe and make it for her kids. An unexpected burst of homesickness comes over her. This will be the longest she's been away from Konoha ever. Is Shikamaru okay? Did Nagisa-san pay Genin to take care of the garden? Are the kids eating breakfast right now too?

The thoughts come forward and Shikako pushes them back. It won't do any good to dwell on them now. She just has to do well in the tournament and get home in one piece.


	4. Chapter 4

Round Three:

With fifteen competitors, someone was going to get a bye. Shikako just wasn't expecting it to be her. She assumed that Rock would want to assure that at least one of their own was in the second. It quickly appears that Rock went a different route. Kikyo and Sahashi are fighting themselves in the first round, the two Lightning ninja have been pitted against rock, and the rest are rock ninja going against themselves. Shikako can see the logic behind the match ups. Her second and third round matches will be back to back. A double edged sword for her and a possibly easy win for her first opponent. Pairing her teammates together means knocking out at least one Leaf automatically, two if there is a draw. Lightning gets to face Rock because those two are still on good terms with each other, gives a chance for Rock to get two ninja into the second round, and gives the impression of 'fairness'. The Hidden of Rock did a good job of stacking the odds in their favor.

Team 5 watches the matches with intense concentration. Unlike the Rock ninja, they have no idea who their opponents are. They didn't fight any of the Genin that made it to the tournament and foreign ninja most certainly can't go around snooping for info in a Hidden Village. All they have to go on will be what they can see today. The first winner is a Rock ninja. The second winner is a Lightning ninja with a clever use of Shock Release and ninja wire. The third and fourth are two more Rock ninja without anything special to their name. Kikyo and Sahashi are up now.

"Do your best." Shikako tells both of them. They nod back and head down. It's not a bad match. Shikako had guessed the outcome already but Kikyo put up a good fight. Straight up combat may not have been her speciality but she showed plenty of ingenuity. The match after that is almost a draw but the Rock ninja manages to defeat the Lightning Genin in the nick of time with a well placed Rock Blizzard (He'll be Shikako's first opponent.) The last winner is a Rock ninja with the ability to turn his skin to stone.

The second round kicks off with a bang. Rock meets Lightning and they both throw down much bigger techniques than the previous match. Rock is a close combat fighter who whips out a spear for this fight while Lightning keeps her distance and throughs lightning bolts at her opponent. In the end, she tires before he does and the match is called with Rock standing over the Genin, spear at her throat. There is a lot of applause at that.

The next match is quieter. The two Rock ninja don't really want to hurt each other and neither has any flashy jutsu that wow the crowd.

"Good luck." Shikako says as Sahashi makes his way down for the next match. He mutters an affirmative and leaves.

This is more difficult to watch. The Rock Genin, Toji, throws insults constantly during the match. Clearly, he has decided that his enemies deserve no civility. Shikako's teammate keeps a cool head, probably earning him a promotion, but it's still grating. It doesn't help that Toji is one of the strongest Genin in the tournament. Sahashi loses and has to be helped off the field. Shikako wants to go down and see if he's alright but his Jonin sensei has already left and she's up next. She'll just have to beat Toji next round.

"Kick his ass." Kikyo tells her and Shikako knows she means that for both of her opponents.

"I know."

The field looks different at eye level. What once had been a flat plain was riddled with boulders and pits caused by the various jutsu. There's scorch marks from lightning releases and a fairly deep trench from Sahashi's Multi-Size jutsu. This will do just fine.

"Begin!"

Shikako sends a bunch of kunai with exploding tags wrapped around their handles at her opponent. He blocks a few and teleports out of range. None of the tags go off but they land where she needs them too. It becomes a chase after that. Shikako sending out kunai and the boy Rock Blizzards. When they meet, the kunai explode, tipping her hand early. The kid also seems to know that she is a Nara because he's avoiding her shadow just as well as the kunai. Or so he thinks. Ten minutes into the match, Shikako splits her shadow into two branches and catches him.

"Shadow possession complete!" Shikako calls out. The Rock Genin snarls as she walks him over to a bunch of her kunai. "Surrender or I will set them off."

Her struggles for a moment but gives up. There really isn't anything else he can do.

"Stay here." The proctor orders as her next opponent makes his way down. Shikako nods. That match went well, she's not tired and kept her more powerful techniques hidden. She should be able to beat Toji and still be in shape to fight in the finals.

"Begin!"

Toji launches a boulder at her with a jutsu. Shikako dodges and pulls out more kunai. "You run well for a bastard." He shouts loud enough to carry to the stands.

"My parents were married." Shikako idly shoots back. She figured he'd bring up her family just like he had done with Sahashi. He'll have to try a different button because Shikaku and Yoshiko's relationship isn't something that Shikako will ever be ashamed of. A quick teleport and throw hems Toji in with ninja wire. Shikako uses a fire jutsu that traces the oil-slicked wire. It sets him on fire but the boy has already turned his skin into rock and gets out of the mess with just some singed clothing.

"You mean your father was forced to marry a woman he got knocked up." Toji sneers as he sends a Rock Blizzard towards her location. Shikako gets a few nicks as she dodges it.

"Is that what Hidden Rock thinks? You guys need to work on your information gathering." Shikako needs to get rid of that armor. It's letting him shrug off her attacks and doesn't seem to drain his chakra all that much. She can do it if she gets into arm's reach but that will require more chasing. Not that she has a problem with that. She doesn't care if this match goes to the time limit.

"Our information is just fine." Another Rock Blizzard and exploding kunai meet with predictable results. "You don't need to be a genius to know your whore mother got herself pregnant just to snag the heir of the Nara Clan."

Shikako paused. Stopping to take that in. Toji sees that as a weakness and keeps on talking. He misses Shikako's quiet 'kai' as he moves in for the kill.

"Is that how you've survived without a clan too? Sleeping with the Clans?" He throws a punch right to her face. The power behind the stone arm enough to take it right off. Shikako grabs it and stops him in mid air.

"You are going to regret calling my mother a whore." The words are cold as ice and twice as deadly. They are not a threat but a fact that she makes good on immediately. Shikako cocks a fist back. It's at this moment that Toji realizes she's not holding him in place with her shadow but pure strength. Her fist makes contact with his stomach and sends him flying backwards.

In another life, Shikako would have a plethora of techniques to kick his ass. In another life, her mother would have taught her Earth Walking and her father would have watched her master every Nara technique she could get her hands on. In another life, Shikako would have had a Jonin sensei famous for his wide range of techniques. In another life, Shikako would have passed Tsunade's strength enhancement technique to Sakura because she didn't need it.

But this is not that life. In this life, Shikako doesn't have any of that. What she has is a brother that needs to be protected, average chakra stores, and no stone of Gelel to offset that. What she has is Chouza, Inochi, and Genma whose primary arsenal is off limits to her. Chouza and Inochi because their techniques are based on the Akimichi and Yamanaka bloodlines and Genma specializes in poison. Poison in the house when she regularly hosts a dozen kids who love to explore every corner of it? Yeah, that's not happening. What she can learn from them is minimal. It's mostly the basics and the random tricks that they have picked up over the years.

But years from now Ebisu will make Special Jonin on his mastery of the basics. Years from now Rock Lee will become the first Jonin to make it there on his taijutsu ability alone. So, Shikako has compensated. She's taken to taijutsu in a way that a normal Nara would claim is unnatural. She's gotten Genma to introduce her to Ebisu and Gai, his original teammates. They are more than willing to help her perfect the basics. The times that Inochi has trained her has made her sensing level better than most Jonins. She's befriended Iruka who secretly specializes in sealing and they work out how to take the basics barrier seals and make them combat ready. After five years of work, Shikako has figured out how to apply seals with a touch.

Eight years into her life as a ninja, Shikako has made herself someone that is more dangerous in close combat than a Hyuga. And she is done playing around.

When Toji comes to a stop, Shikako is there. Two touches on his arms bloom into spirals of ink and a kick tosses him back into the air. A second sends him into the exact same spot he was a moment ago and tears off a good chunk of his armor. Toji coughs and as Shikako comes back down, he does a replacement and dives underground. It won't help him.

Shikako sets of some of the kunai that are still scattered around. The explosions force him to stop long enough that she can shove an arm into the ground and haul him out. A throw sends him back to the rock that she originally pounded him into. It's a point. It says that no matter how far he runs, Shikako is more than capable of sending him back to where he started.

She slowly walks to where he is. It gives him time to use one last Rock Blizzard.

"Hexagram Barrier." If her sleeves didn't completely cover her arms, Toji would have seen one set of tattoos on them glow purple as a barrier forms right in front of her. The Rock Blizzard skitters off of it like rain on an umbrella.

 _Yes, I was dodging this whole time only because I wanted to._ Her action says. _You weren't worth me actually trying until you insulted my mother._

It's an insult to her previous opponent as well but Shikako doesn't care about him. She cares about the asshole struggling to his feet as she approaches. She casually raises a hand and activates the seals on his arms. The weight seals quadruple his weight and literally bring him to his knees. Shikako palms a kunai.

"I..I surrender!" His voice is shaky, terrified, but loud. Shikako steps back and the referee officially calls the match in her favor. With a thought she deactivates Toji's seals. The disappear from his skin like they are suppose to and she walks off the field. She's still angry but pleased. She has made her point and Toji called the match when he should have. Hopefully this will teach him that smack talk will only get him killed. Shikako certainly could have killed him at any time but she doesn't want that kind of blood on her hands. Doesn't want to be the person that kills people just because they make her upset. Especially not a child.

Since Kikyo and Sahashi are out, Shikako is the only one in the in the competitor box when she gets back. The remain Genin have already gone down to the field. It's watching that match that Shikako decides to win the whole tournament. She wasn't really considering it before but there really isn't another option. She can't go back pretending to be an average Genin and no matter who wins this neither of them are at her level. Besides, it might offset her letting Toji goad her into showing off. Konoha winning Rock's Chunin Exam would be a huge coup for Hidden Leaf. Plus, Genma told her just before she left that he'd show her the Flying Thunder God jutsu if she ever made it to Jonin. A blatant attempt to make sure Shikako didn't throw the Exam but another reason to try since she's already made it this far.

The spear-wielding ninja wins. There's a pause as time they are given extra time to rest before the finals. A good way to hype it up and give Rock a chance to recover. It also means an incredibly awkward silence in the competitor box as Shikako ignores the Rock Genin who is obviously nervous about fighting her. Twenty minutes later they are called down to the arena for the last time. The Rock Genin already has a spear in hand as they face off.

"Go!"

Shikako threads her chakra into the ground and forms a staff made out of rock. It's not as flexible as her water staff but it is her preferred element and Chouza has shown her how to use it to her advantage. She meets him and proves that even her weapon abilities are better than Rock's. The Genin gives up fighting her in close combat and moves back. Shikako sets off her remaining kunai just behind him. It takes him by surprise and gives her time to get close enough to slap a knock out tag on him.

"Winner of the Chunin Exam's: Kinokawa Shikako!" There's applause at her victory. Not as much as if Rock had won but the clients were definitely impressed. Shikako walks off the field feeling good about herself.

She gets promoted along with the other finalist, Sahashi, and the Lightning Genin that made it passed the first round. Shikako puts on the Chunin vest and wonders how long it will take until they get back home. Shikamaru and the rest of her kids are going to want to throw a party over this.


End file.
